Word-for-word, while conceivable for Latin and particularly Germanic-derived languages, is impossible for Japanese to English. Not only is the grammar and idiom too disparate, you run into the problem of what words to use.

The reason why I spent so much time quoting whole paragraphs of Japanese--and then breaking everything down into manageable segments, was to show how difficult it is to match Japanese and English word-for-word, or to give a translation that some would call 'literal'.

On the other hand, there is a need for something that is closer to the original than we have now.

Of course, I know that Josh is aware of this, so this is meant as a general observation, not as a response to Josh's post.